(A/N: Finally realized that doing horror in the imperfect tense just doesn't have the same feel to it like the present tense does. :3 From here on out, the story will be written in the present tense! The last chapter has been revised to reflect this!)
Peach's strange behavior and Red's strange disappearance did not go unnoticed.
Theories and rumors started spreading pretty quickly. Some, like Red, was sure Peach was just freaked out about something she saw in the basement. It would certainly not be the first time someone fled that damned dungeon before finishing their job. Others, especially those who had actually seen Peach's face as she was running to her room, suspected otherwise. So unusual was the Princess's behavior that it was the topic of discussion until close to 11:50, when Zelda finally decided that the time for talking was over, and that if her roommate needed her, she would be the one to talk her through whatever she experienced.
"Peach?" The Queen of Hyrule asks softly as she taps on the thick door with a gloved hand. "Are you alright? Can I come in?"
No answer. Zelda chews her lip for a moment as she waits, knocking once again before deciding that a little rudeness would be excused by concern for a good friend. Zelda opens the door and looks around the pink-walled suite. The smell of hot water and the thickness of the air strike her first, followed by the hissing sound of shower water and the sight of Peach's shirt and pants thrown haphazardly on the bed, not folded, like she usually does with her clothes when she bathes. There was definitely something the matter. Zelda peers at the open bathroom door, inside of which is Peach, sitting on the floor of the shower in her underwear and clutching her crown to her chest as she lets the heavy beads of shower water strike her head and roll down her body. Zelda frowns at her friend, reaching in and turning off the water before kneeling next to the tub and trying to meet the Princess's eyes.
"Peach, people are worried about you," Zelda says softly. "What happened in the basement? You can tell me; I'm your friend, and I want to help in any way I can…"
Peach's slender throat tightens before she speaks: "Have you ever been possessed, Zelda?"
Surprised at the question, Zelda blinks before gently nodding. "I have. And I'm currently living with the man who possessed me," she says, letting the smallest of scowls cross her face as she remembers how Ganondorf pitted her against Link during the Twilight Realm fiasco. "It feels like going to sleep and having a really bad dream."
Peach shakes her head. "No… No, no! It wasn't like that at all!" she cries, trembling. "I've been possessed three times now! Each time it's felt like my mind was being raped! Like I was watching someone else in my body… I got possessed for a few moments down there, and… it horrified me. W-What took a hold of me… I think i-it made me do something terrible…"
"…To Red?" Zelda asks warily. Peach looks at her weirdly.
"I ran into Red when I was running away from what was trying to eat me… What about him?"
"He's gone, Peach," Zelda says simply, her lips rising into a tight line. "He just upped and vanished, and he didn't take any of his Pokemon with him wherever he went."
And Peach didn't think her blood could get any colder… Her jaw falls open and she stands up in the tub. "He was right in front of the basement… I didn't tell him about the soul-eating monster…"
"…What? Soul-eating what?" Zelda babbles, more confused than ever.
"The book!" Peach wails. "I read a book, the Dark Prognosticus! It summoned… something, and it tried to eat my soul! I-I remember the words… 'Pon midnight's stroke and moonless sk-"
Peach pauses with her tongue still arched on the 'k' sound as she looks out the bathroom window. There's a new moon in the sky, so dark against the shadowy canopy that it almost appeared there was no moon at all…
"… Zelda. What time is it?" asks the frozen Mushroom Princess softly.
The Queen of Hyrule furls her eyebrows warily before stepping out of the bathroom to check the hands of the wall clock. "…11:55. Why?"
Zelda is nearly knocked off her feet and yelps out as a soaking wet, half-naked Princess Peach charges straight past her and bursts out the door, screaming one thing over and over at the top of her lungs:
"Get out of the Mansion! Get out of the Mansion!"
11:56
In the Mansion's kitchen, Kirby stands whistling a familiar tune to himself as he haphazardly tosses a bunch of random ingredients into a giant steaming pot and occasionally drowning the whole stew in spices. He wears his chef's hat proudly, and is further inspired to do what he thought was a good job by the presence of Jigglypuff, who… is kind of Kirby's girlfriend, assuming Kirby's simple mind can process the idea of a girlfriend like Jigglypuff clearly can, as she watches him cook with a smile and a fuzzy blush under her giant dinner-plate eyes.
A few more questionable additions to the pot later, and then Kirby starts to stare hard at his pot, waiting for something. Jigglypuff blinks, then waddles up beside him, making sure to press her big round body against his as she watches, as well. Moments pass… Suddenly, a large bubble begins to swell on the surface of the stew, watery and thick. It continues to grow until it finally pops with a sparkle of pink dust.
"Tada!" Kirby declares, raising his hands victoriously. Jigglypuff giggles and claps, grinning brightly as Kirby scoops some of the hot stew out of his pot with a spoon, blowing the steam away before happily holding it to a sparkly-eyed Jigglypuff, who closes her eyes and leans her head forward to have a taste of Kirby's concoction.
"Get out of the Mansion! Get out of the Mansion!"
Jigglypuff stops short and blinks, turning her head to the kitchen just as a shiny wet bra/panty-clad Princess Peach rockets by, moving about as fast as any Quick Attack. Jigglypuff blinks again, wondering if she just saw what she thought she saw… She rolls out of the kitchen just in time to see Peach turning a corner and disappearing, still screaming. What in Arceus' name..?
Kirby waddles up beside Jigglypuff, still holding his spoon of soup. He gives a confused look in Peach's direction, then turns and offered Jigglypuff the stew again, which she gladly accepts.
11:57
"I've never seen Ms. Peach like that, Mr. Mario. It was super-weird," says the young voice of Popo the Ice Climber. He, Link, Lucario, and Mario had set up a makeshift meeting in one of the hallway clearings to discuss Peach. Each of them spotted the Mushroom Princess as she was fleeing the basement.
"It looked to me like she was running away from something…" Link comments. "I actually drew my blade to fight anything that might have made its way into the Mansion and was chasing her, but... there was nothing."
"Hm…" Lucario growls, 'voicing his thoughts', as it were, quite literally, producing an audible echoed voice without moving his lips. "Her aura was disturbed when I sensed her, but I couldn't be sure of what it was that had bothered her."
Mario's hairy lip twitches, his bushy eyebrows furled with concern for his Princess. "Perhaps it was something in the base that may have scared here?" he suggests, his accent as strong as ever. Lucario shakes his head.
"This was… beyond fear." The Pokemon sighs aloud. "I don't know how to describe it, but it was dark. Incredibly dark. If I didn't know any better… I'd say Peach might have had an encounter with a-"
"Get out of the Mansion! Out! OUT! Get out of the Mansion!"
The young Ice Climber covers his eyes as the half-naked Peach charges by, screaming at the top of her lungs. The rest of the present Smashers just gawk, unsure of how to respond, or what to do. Several moments pass before Mario finally pushes his chair away as he charges after Princess Peach. Within moments, the other three Smashers are close behind.
11:58
With a whir and a flash, Sonic and Samus return from the VBS, the virtual-brawling simulator. Samus was dressed only in her Zero Suit, and Sonic was dressed only in shoes, socks, and a smug grin.
"Bite me, hedgehog. You got lucky." the bounty hunter snorts with a roll of his eyes.
"Ha! Yeah, right!" Sonic laughs. "I knew you beating Peach was a fluke, Sammy! There's only one little girl I know who even has a chance of going head-to-head with Princess Peach and winning without fluking it."
"Sonic, we know Amy's got you whipped; you don't have to keep reminding everyone," chuckles Ness from his spot next to R.O.B at the VBS control panel. Samus also snickers at this, but Sonic rolls his eyes.
"Please… I'm not whipped; I'm definitely in control of our rel- Wait. Wait! No, Amy and I aren't together, dammit!" Sonic denies indignantly, much to the amusement of Ness and Samus. All laughter stops immediately as her screams finally reach their ears.
"Get out of the Mansion! Get out of the Mansion!"
Samus walks over to the simulation room door and opens it up just in time for Peach to slam her toe into the bottom of the opening door and screech as she trips and tumbles, clutching her foot.
"Oh, shit…" Samus swears, walking up to Peach and stopping suddenly as she realized the Princess was only in her underwear. "Peach, are you okay…? Why are you undressed?"
Peach doesn't answer, and only groans as she fights to her feet and starts to hobble on her injured foot toward the foyer, still wailing for people to get out of the Mansion. Sonic and Ness watch as well, silently, until Ness finally breaks the silence.
"Wow, she's hot."
11:59
Not much farther… Not much farther… Not much farther…
Peach is sure her left big toe is jammed. The pain almost takes her breath away. Almost.
"G- Aah..! Get out of… of the Mansion!"
This she cries with hot tears welling in her eyes as she finally reaches the foyer. Screaming in pain with each step down the stairs, she is determined to make it out, even as the pain gets worse and worse with each step. Peach feels she might black out at any moment as she finally hits the home stretch, reaching the ground level and staring at the Mansion's front doors, several yards in front of her. Tears mix with shower water as they drip from her face, and a twisted smile of relief comes to her face as she is finally able to reach out her hand to twist the handle and escape the Mansion. She is far too manic to worry about the other and whether or not they heeded her warning…
12:00
BONG!
Nanoseconds before Peach's fingers touch the door, there is a click! as the door locked itself. Peach's eyes widen and she screams at the top of her lungs.
BONG!
Fans stop working. The simulator shuts down. TVs blank out. Every single light in the house is turned off all on its own, leaving the whole inside of the Mansion choked by darkness. Peach screams again.
BONG!
At once, the eyes of every single Smasher still asleep in the Mansion snap open. Bowser, Lucas, King DeDeDe, Ganondorf, Yoshi, Snake, Fox, and others… All of them open their eyes, but not a single one of them wakes up. From nowhere, an airy mist begins to fill their rooms…
BONG!
The basement door. Everything is silent. Zelda lights her way down the hallway past the door with a spark of Din's Fire in her hands, searching for Peach, who she lost the trail of not long after she left... Her feet are wreathed in mist… The entire floor seems to have been replaced by a misty carpet… Zelda stops as she hears a short creaking sound.
Pssssst…
Zelda turns her head to the basement door, which is now opened a crack. In the crack of the door, a wide brown eye stares right at Zelda, and Zelda stares right at the wide brown eye. The stare is held for several silent second before the basement door swings open and, quicker than a flash, a wide-eyed, ashen-skinned, black-veined Red reaches out and brutally grabs Zelda by the hair, yanking her off her feet and into the basement. Zelda screeches louder than she ever has as the basement door slams shut and her muffled screams and cries barely make it through the door.
"No! No, please!"
Suddenly, Zelda's screaming stops. Moment pass. The basement door opens slightly with another creak, and Zelda's frosty blue eye stares through the crack out into the hallway.
BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG!
Peach trembles against the door as other Smashers start to enter the foyer. Mario immediately rushes up and kneels beside her, joined quickly by everybody else she passed on her way to her attempted escape.
"Princess…" Mario says softly to her. "Princess, what… what's going-"
"I found the Dark Prognosticus… I read something, and I think it summoned a monster…" Peach blubbers. Her lips tremble as she repeats the prophecy that has, and will forever be, burned into her memory.
"'Pon midnight's stroke and moonless sky… these words do herald doom… Dur'n mindless reel and darkness cry… your soul he will consume…"
Not a word is spoken for a long moment. Peach sniffles and speaks again, lifting her puffy red eyes.
"I'm such a stupid person, a-and I'm so sorry… I-I killed Red, a-and now I'm going to kill all of you guys, too…"
